Heeled shoes clicked along the tile as the female agent made her way down the hall. GUN was notorious for making long hallways as if trying to get people lost easily. That coupled with everything being the Same. Exact. Color. Made things rather confusing as to where you happened to appear. Thankfully, the spy had been in the agency for quite a few years now and knew her way around, for the most part. Making a few turns and passing a few of the grunts in the hallway, who she could have sworn eyed her up as they walked by, she finally reached her destination; Shadow’s office. Yes, Team Dark went on dangerous missions for GUN and practically risked their lives at times, but the majority of days were spent here, doing paperwork. Or so they were supposed to. The black hedgehog hated the thought and usually required quite some persuasiveness to actually work, while the bat made the appearance she worked, though those close to her knew she slacked off just as much as the other. They both would have been fired by now if not for their combative skills and usefulness in battle.
Turning the handle, she shuffled the papers around in her hands a bit, “Hey, Shadow. I have another report for you from...” She cut herself off, was he...sleeping? He must have heard the door open. The streaked quills lifted from the desk, a paper stuck to his forehead as he looked around in a confused daze. Rouge let out a heavy sigh as she closed the door quickly behind her, “Again?! Shadow this isn’t normal. I never thought you even slept before and now I’m catching you dozing off everywhere! Don’t try and pretend you didn’t doze off during the Commander’s speech yesterday, I saw your eyes close for longer than a blink several times.” Said hedgehog removed the paper, letting out a groan in frustration, “I’m fine, Rouge. Just a little low on energy.” Her hands crossed, “Uh huh. You said you’d be better several times. You’ve been like this since you came to my house soaking wet in the middle of the night a month ago. Well guess what, you’re getting worse, not better. What’re you hiding from me?”
“I’m not hiding anything, Rouge, I’m fine,” Shadow moved to stand from behind his desk, pushing past her and heading out the door with the bat on his heels. He made his way to the lounge, which was thankfully empty, grabbing a styrofoam cup to get the yet another shot of coffee. He’d lost count of how many he’d had today alone. “You most certainly are not fine! It’s not just your energy levels, you’ve been having stomach cramps as well!” The bat turned and took a couple steps away as the other began to fill up his cup. “I know you’re too stubborn to go somewhere and get looked at, but if this continues I’m going to the Commander. We can’t have you going on missions in this kind of condition, you’d be more of a liability then an asset right now. Omega would agree with me...Shadow? Are you listening to me?” She turned, seeing the other’s eyes closed, head leaning forward slightly, still filling up his cup. “Shadow!” Said hedgehog jumped, eyes shooting open in surprise just as the coffee began to overflow, the heat burning his hand, making him drop the cup. He uttered a curse as the black liquid spilled on the floor, part of it soaking his pelt. The burn didn’t hurt, his skin was immune to extreme heat, but the warmth surprised him in his dazed state.
The bat let out a groan, grabbing napkins and wiping his stomach fur dry, “You see? You’re in no condition to work, let alone fight!” A gloved hand pushed her away in annoyance, “I’m fine” The word ended in a growl as he started to clean up the mess. However, bending in half seemed to not agree with his stomach, feeling it flip and cramp he dropped into a crouch, ears drooping a little, teeth bared slightly as his eyes squinted shut. The other dropped next to him, rubbing his back in comfort, glad no one else was here to see her friend in pain, they might have left in a similar situation. She softened her voice, ears drooping slightly, “Shadow, please. I’m not trying to make you upset, I’m just worried.” Crimson eyes opened slightly, face relaxing as the pain abated, “I know. I appreciate your concern, but-“ “HELLO GUN AGENTS!”
Oh no. This was the last thing Shadow needed right now; a visit from the blue hedgehog. He hadn’t seen him in a month, on purpose. He was still trying to figure what had happened that night, and then these deliberating symptoms started to affect him in ways he hated to admit. And now the very person of his torment was here.
The two mobians whipped their heads around in time to see the world famous hero practically skip through the doorway, the usual grin on his face, “Hey, you two havin’ a party on the floor?” The bat opened her mouth to speak, but the other quickly answered, turning away from the intruder, “I just dropped some coffee, Rouge was helping clean up.” The agent looked at the other in question, noticing his frantic hands wipe up the spilled liquid as fast as would allow. Peach hands crossed behind the blue quills, as their owner made a disgusted face, “Coffee? That nasty stuff? Why’d ya wanna drink that?” Canines made an appearance as black lids hid the crimson pools, “Because unlike you, some of us have to work for a living and we have to be awake for it.”
The bat sensed some tension between the two, or at least coming from the antihero beside her, who still refused to turn towards the other. The two had always had a rivalry of sorts, but the half alien seemed a bit more on edge now that the other was here. Once the spilled liquid had been cleaned up, the black hedgehog stood, making sure to at least <i>look</i> steady on his feet, “Now if you will excuse me, I must get back to it.” He made his way to the door, purposefully hiding his face as much as he could as he passed by the blue hedgehog. He knew his current state made him look rather flustered and wanted to avoid a conversation.
The hero blinked in surprise, reaching out a hand, “H-hey! Wait a minute!” He managed to catch the other’s arm, “We haven’t seen each other in a long time! Is ‘at any way ta greet me?” He was half joking, but did want to talk to the other. It had been a whole month. He had missed him. The least the other could do was let him speak.
The gloved hand was shaken off as the antihero continued to leave, not uttering a word. Azure reached for him once again, “H-hey! Look I jus’ wanna talk!” He managed to grab the other’s shoulder, effectively spinning him around to face the other. The famous shoes stopped in their tracks, “...wow...you look...terrible.” Perhaps that wasn’t right choice of words. Crimson eyes stared daggers at him, the whites of his eyes almost as dark as the iris, as if he hadn’t slept in days. The streaked quills, which were usually well groomed, were sticking out in random places, not to mention the sheen of wet fur where coffee had spilled. Shadow looked like a mess, and he knew it.
The forgotten third wheel made her way over to the pair to break the tension, “He’s not been feeling well. I’d prefer if you didn’t stress him out any more than need be.” The words were laced with a poison that made a slight shiver run up the hero’s spine as she stood behind him. Jumping out of the way with an embarrassed grin, a gloved hand scratched behind an ear, “Rouge! Long time no see, heh. I wasn’t interruptin’ anythin’, was I?”
Considering the way the black hedgehog had reacted, Rouge assumed he wanted his private life affairs to remain in secret. She decided to play along with the other as much as would allow, “No. Just as Shadow said. Cleaning up some spilled coffee. Why are you here?” Peach shoulders allowed a bit of a shrug, “Well I tried lookin’ for ya, Shads, but I jus’ decided ta come here instead.” Truth be told, the alien being had told him he had sometimes stayed with Rouge, but he was hoping to catch the other alone. Those hopes were now shrinking as the bat seemed to be resistant to leave the two of them.
Ebony moved to leave once again, “I don’t want to talk. Just leave me be.” The other seemed to be rather insistent, “Shads!” Before anyone could say anything else, the sound system above them began to make an announcement, “Shadow the hedgehog, please report to the Commander’s office. Shadow the hedgehog, to the Commander’s office.” Messages were always repeated for clarity.
Said hedgehog was tempted to sigh in relief as he began to make his way there, thankful for an excuse to leave the awkward situation. He didn’t know what the other wanted, but he needed some more time to himself before he could face that. Thankfully the two stayed where he’d left them. Seeing the door to his destination in sight, he quickened his pace to ensure the other two hadn’t followed. He tried to make his quills a bit more acceptable looking as he twisted the door knob, “You wanted to see me, Comm-“ He stopped in his tracks, eyes wide. Two armed soldiers awaited his arrival along with the Commander and the Lab’s Scientist. No. Not now!
“Why did you have to show up now of all times?” The bat’s shoe tapped against the tile, arms crossed, “He doesn’t need any extra stress in his life right now and you know how annoyed you make him.” The blue hedgehog was already walking out the door after the antihero, “C’mon, Rouge, I didn’t know he wasn’t feelin’ well! I jus’ wanted ta talk with ‘im.” Said mobian sighed and followed, “Maybe not, but can’t this wait? I’m having a hard enough time as it is trying to convince him to stay another night to rest.” Sneakers stopped at an intersection, unsure which way to go. Thankfully the bat decided to help him out a bit, nodding in the direction to the Commander’s office. He did seem urgent, maybe a quick conversation wouldn’t hurt. “I’m sorry, but it’s really important. I haven’t seen ‘im in too long,” the other went down the hallway, his walk so fast the bat had to almost jog to keep up, “I’ve never seen you this worked up about something before, especially to do with Shadow. Is everything alright?” The hero paused, making her almost run into the sharp quills.
He turned, emerald eyes shining brightly, “I-“ He didn’t get to answer, before he knew it he was practically plowed over by a black streak, the two of them entangling before landing on the floor. The agent was able to move out of the way just in time, starring in shock at the two hedgehogs in front of her. The antihero they were looking for quickly sat up, starring in the direction he’d come, an uncharacteristic look of fear over his face. The black ear flicked at a groan coming from below him. The blue hedgehog he had used as a landing place twisted underneath him, forcing the two apart. A gloved hand rubbed the blue forehead in pain, “Shadow? What the heck was that for?!”
Before the accused could answer, a pair of soldiers, along with the Commander and a rather scary looking Scientist in a white coat came from around the corner. When they spotted the black hedgehog, the immediately began to pursue in haste. Said mobian quickly began to scramble away as fast as he could, though his limbs were shaking a bit too much to allow a swift retreat. The bat let out a half sigh half groan, “This again?!” The blue hedgehog looked up at her, standing slowly, “What?! What again?!” The Commander began to shout as they neared, “Sonic! Restrain Shadow!” “No!” The alien being was crawling away as fast as he could, trying desperately to stand. “What? Why?!” Sonic was far too confused to understand anything that was happening. The bat flew into action, practically tackling the creation to the ground, who proceeded to squirm and thrash about wildly, “Sonic! Help me!”
Trusting there was a reasonable explanation to this madness, the hero helped the agent move the thrashing hedgehog to a stand, carefully avoiding the quills that were pointed in all directions, “Care ta tell me what’s happening?!” Rouge was almost ashamed a non-GUN agent had to witness this stupidity, “It’s something new the Commander brought up. He wanted to continue Gerald Robotnik’s research on Shadow to try and find a cure-all. Anyway, every few months they come to take a blood sample from him.” Sonic simply stared at her, trying to get a better grip, “...That’s it? He’s not runnin’ for his life or something?” The bat scoffed, “He thinks he is. He’s deathly afraid of needles. I guess all the experimenting on him they used to do kind of left a few scars.”
The pursuing agents finally reached the three, quickly getting the necessary gear prepared. The man with two colored eyes thanked the blue hedgehog, “Thank you, Sonic. We’ll discuss why you’re here at another time.” Said hedgehog let out a nervous smile, knowing he wasn’t supposed to be at GUN’s headquarters without permission. The agent beside him was having a bit of trouble not getting poked by the dangerous quills lashing out. “Rouge, you can let go, I got ‘im,” the hero assured her. The bat nodded her thanks. Wrapping an arm around the hedgehog’s neck area and lower stomach, he attempted to hold the other as still as he could, however he had to dodge an attempted head butt, and with how much the metal shoes were kicking his legs, he knew he’d have quite a few bruises after this encounter, as well as scratches from where Shadow’s claws were starting to tear through his gloves.
The Scientist pulled out a long needle along with several vials for collecting blood. The pure sight made the black hedgehog shake in fear, “No! Please, don’t!” He hated this. As much as the Ultimate Lifeform would have liked to say he had no fears, that was a lie. The trauma he had been put through more than fifty years ago haunted his mind on a regular basis. The gene splitting, the blood pouring, seeing if limbs would grow back, if organs could be removed, if diseases would cause death; something such as that could not easily be forgotten. His humiliation was all the worse that his rival had to witness this, let alone be the one to hold him down. He silently wished he’d fall asleep and never wake up.
Once the Scientist had finished prepping, the two armed soldiers moved to assist Sonic, one attempting to hold the thrashing limbs, while the other attempted to seize and hold an arm out to the Scientist for easy access. Rouge assisted the soldier in holding the arm still so that the needle wouldn’t bend, like several previous ones had. She could’ve yelled at her partner for acting like a baby, but seeing him in fear was something she was not used to and didn’t like to witness when the lab needed more blood. She respected Shadow enough not to call him out on this, he would do the same for her, “Just try to relax, Shadow, it’ll be over soon.”
The blue hedgehog found it almost amusing that such an egotistical and prideful hedgehog could possibly be afraid of something so small, “Yea, Shads, it won’t hurt a bit!” As the Scientist began to feel for a vein, needle in hand, the trapped hedgehog made one last ditch effort to escape, thrashing about violently, causing a hand to hold his forehead still to protect the hero behind him. He considered biting the opposing hand. His squirming caused the peach arms to tighten around him, pressing against the place that been causing him pain the past few days. He let out a small groan of discomfort, unfortunately it went unheard as the needle pushed into his arm, causing a hiss of pain.
Seeing the considerably dark red liquid emerge into the container was no comfort, especially when a full one was replaced with an empty one to fill up as well. The thrashing gradually slowed down, black lids remained squinted to block out the sight. The strong hold remained in case he started to move once again. As the last vial was brought to be filled, the blacked hedgehog almost whimpered, “Please...stop...no more...” The arm trembled as the last vial filled. A total of 10 vials was taken away to the lab, the Scientist finally pulling the needle out of the streaked arm.
The agents released the hedgehog, his limbs drooping lifelessly as the blue hedgehog held on for just a moment longer, “See? That wasn’t so bad. Jus’ a lil’ blood donation, plus it’s for a good cause!” A pained expression remained on the half breed’s face, “S-Sonic...you’re...hurting...” The other smirked, “Aw c’mon, it’s called a ‘hug.’ And they don’t hurt!” The black hedgehog let out a pained grunt, “No...stomach...hurts...” The bat pried the peach limbs off, “Let him go! You’re hurting him!” Emerald eyes blinked in surprise, letting his prisoner go, who immediately dropped to his knees in front of him, arms holding his stomach. “Shadow!” Rouge kneeled beside him, “Talk to me! What’s happening?” The other couldn’t respond clearly, “...hurts...” The blue green eyes glared at the blue hedgehog who simply starred. He hadn’t squeezed him that tightly, had he? That was something so small compared to their sparring matches, not to mention a death hug from Amy Rose. “What’s going on?” The Commander and the agents were unsure how to react. Rouge looked up at him, large ears drooping slightly, “He hasn’t been feeling well, I’m not sure what’s wrong exactly.”
Crimson eyes opened slightly. What’s happening? Why does the world feel so unsteady? His body swayed slightly as the bat tried to keep him upright. He could hear her call out to him, but her voice seemed warped and far away, his vision blurred with mixed sight of the humans and the blue hedgehog starring in confusion. The tiled floor connected with his side, forcing a breath of air out of his lungs. The bat’s worried expression above him was the last thing he saw before his vision faded to black.
